Sit back and enjoy as I share all the things I love about life.

Main menu

Post navigation

St. Patrick’s Day

Ireland always celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in style. Even outside of Ireland, the Irish will have decked out bars and pubs with green and orange to celebrate their special day. But, what is it all about?

Here are some facts about St. Patrick’s Day:

St. Patrick’s Day is observed on March 17 because that is the feast day of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It is believed that he died on March 17 in the year 461 AD. It is also a worldwide celebration of Irish culture and history. St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday in Ireland, and a provincial holiday in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

In Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day, people traditionally wear a small bunch of shamrocks on their jackets or caps. Children wear orange, white and green badges, and women and girls wear green ribbons in their hair.

Many cities have a St. Patrick’s Day parade. Dublin, the capital of Ireland, has a huge St. Patrick’s Day festival from March 15-19, that features a parade, family carnivals, treasure hunt, dance, theatre and more. In North American, parades are often held on the Sunday before March 17. Some paint the yellow street lines green for the day! In Chicago, the Chicago River is dyed green with a special dye that only lasts a few hours. There has been a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Boston, Massachusetts since 1737. Montreal is home to Canada’s longest running St. Patrick’s Day parade, which began in 1824.

But oh, the best facts are saved for last. The real St. Patrick wasn’t even Irish. He was born in Britain around A.D. 390 to an aristocratic Christian family with a townhouse, a country villa, and plenty of slaves. At 16, Patrick’s world turned: He was kidnapped and sent overseas to tend sheep as a slave in the chilly, mountainous countryside of Ireland for seven years.

…..and finally.

75 year old Jimmy Ford, who arrived on stage dressed as a Leprechaun.

The joys of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’…. The word ‘talent’ is used very loosely. I think I need a Guinness now.

Green Guiness? Never! I was in an Irish Bar watching the rugby the other day Ireland-vs-England. The Irish won. I wasn’t too impressed. The relationshop between Ireland and England is not the friendliest. Then again neither is the relationship between the English and the Scots, the English and the Welsh….the French…. Erm. Perhaps I see a pattern emerging.